The Indigo Iris's
by Squeaker-Dee
Summary: Now dawns the age of the homunculi...
1. Chapter 00: Identical

This random idea came to me whilst I was listening to something from "Repo The Genetic Opera" (Which looks really cool, haven't seen it yet but I want to) and yeah, this story was born and I've already fallen in love with my new character Ruth.

Anything FMA related belongs to H/A any other characters and story belong to me.

Enjoy

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__The world is spinning. It doesn't stop. It never does. We can never see anything but the whirling blur at our hands. We can't feel anything in our hearts, for we have none. Our bodies can't rot, they always grow back. Those little perfect creatures fear us, because we're not like them. Not anymore. It's now time for a change, for good._

**Chapter 00: Identical**

The hospital was teeming was patients being wheeled around to the doctors around the place. It all happened so suddenly, as if there had been a monstrous accident and hundreds of people had all been injured in the process. But, there wasn't an accident. It was just hundreds of people, all being taken into A&E for wounds that were all exactly identical or dangerously similar to one another. And the numbers were doubling with each and every passing second. Panicking, the hospital phoned up others from both near and far to ask for backup medics, only to find that they were all in the exact same state as they were in. Patients were crawling at their doorsteps and they couldn't help them.

Bolting down the corridor and weaving in and out of on-coming patients, Dr. Evans made his way towards his designated patient, followed closely by his apprentice, Ruth Hunt. The big, bold man kept glancing wickedly over his shoulder, watching his apprentice scurry along behind him, carrying boxes of bandages and other equipment in her arms. The girl was only young, a little too young in Dr. Evans eyes, and wasn't very fit for high pressure situations. He always wondered how she managed to grasp an apprenticeship at the hospital.

Storming around into a packed out ward, Dr. Evans cut his way right across the tiled flooring and to a child, bleeding from his right arm and left leg. Just like everybody else was. The boy, of about seven or eight years old panted hard as Evans loomed over him, taking in his wounds and thinking quickly. Whisking a hand out to Ruth as she arrived by the child's bedside, he beckoned for some bandages. Nodding bleakly, Ruth placed the boxes on the ground and ripped one open, pulling out some chalk-white bandages and passing them up to Dr. Evans. The large male snatched them from her grasp and folded the bandages up into little bundles. Placing a few bundles on the boys arm, the doctor applied the much needed pressure. He glanced over at Ruth from behind his square framed glasses, sending a quick, hurtful glare. Whimpering, Ruth rapidly mimicked the doctor's movements and applied pressure to the boy's leg.

Ebony locks began to leak out from the low ponytail that sat loosely between Ruth's narrow shoulder blades, the free locks clinging to the streams of sweat on her face. As the bandages began to dye red, Ruth's eyes stung with tears. Through her tears, Ruth noticed Dr. Evans hoisting the child's arm into the air, still holding his bandages on tightly. Ruth didn't need to be told as she lifted the boy's leg up into the air, allowing him to balance his calve on her shoulder.

Cobalt eyes snapped around the room, finding so many other people in the same state as the boy was. She swallowed hard and shook her head. "How can any of this be possible?" She breathed, sending Dr. Evans a glance. The man sighed, sending her a quick glance.

"I don't know, kid. But possibility isn't our job, it's to save lives, so do it" He told her sharply, his brows furrowing as he felt more blood seep out from the wound. The boy in the bed whimpered as Evan strengthened his hold on him, trying to stop the bleeding. "Sorry kid," Evan said in a plain voice, "but we've got to do this if you don't want to bleed to death"

Ruth shuddered as the boy sniffled and nodded, biting his lip and trying to fight back to pain shooting through his arm. She hated seeing people in pain, especially those who couldn't cope with it. Frowning, she lifted her eyes back to Dr. Evan. Evan glanced over at her from behind the brown strands of hair that dangled over his face. He saw it right away in her eyes. His jaw dropped a little and his brows rose. Slowly he shook his head at her and mouthed to her, "no, don't do it here".

Biting her lip, Ruth nodded slowly and turned back to the boy's leg. The entire day and most of the night consisted of the same thing; moving from patient to patient, treating the same wounds over and over. Hundreds of people died, few came out healthy again and the rest were all in the middle of life and death. And that was a lot of people. But, the sudden rush had calmed down greatly by the time it had fallen night time and most of the doctors went home, leaving the rest up to the night shift or those committed to stay. One of those people being Ruth.

The girl, of only seventeen years, had decided to stay by the side of her first patient of the day. The boy was now laid in a peaceful sleep, with bandages looped around his arm and leg tightly. When Ruth had first laid her eyes on his wound and everyone else's wounds, she realised how the cut circled around the upper part of both arm and leg, like someone had tried to cut them off and only managed to get so far into the flesh. Gazing at the dressing on the boy's arm, Ruth planted her elbows up onto her knees and rested her chin in her palms and stared vividly at it. The dressing was done by her tutor, her boss, her hero. Doctor. Evans. She had been that man's apprentice for a fair few months by now and although she didn't seem to be getting much better at the nursing, she found her relationship between herself and the doctor strengthening. In a way, by now, she felt that the relationship she had with Dr. Evans was... wrong.

In her eyes, the doctor was a very beautiful man. Long, dark chocolate hair that looked silky to the touch, even when it was bathing in the stressful sweat from time to time. Captivating brown eyes that were always sparkling with anticipation, no matter how coldly he would look at everyone. A well built body, that was big but not too large, with smooth skin coating every rippling muscle on top. In time, Ruth found herself holding an alien feeling towards him, something that she had never felt around a man before. And it scared her. She was a timid, pathetic little girl and he was a strong, determined grown man, who was far too old for her anyway.

She sighed as her eyes wondered down the sheets and to the area where the boy's leg was, hidden beneath the duvets. Ruth knew that because of her lack in wanting to harm the boy, she almost let him bleed to death and had to allow Dr. Evans to take over. He wasn't happy with her for that and still remained unhappy as the exact same thing had happened over and over until she eventually began to build some confidence. But that was too late anyway. A lot of people died and some were even by her hands, unintentionally of course.

At that moment, Ruth felt tears sting at her eyes again. Grabbing onto the front of her white dress, she lifted the piece of cotton up and rubbed it against her eyes, dying the clothing black with the little make up she had on her eyes. Why did she put that on anyway? Was it to impress Dr. Evans?

Like that mattered anymore. The doctor was very disappointed in her reluctance throughout the day and no doubt won't cut her any slack tomorrow, despite the fact she decided to spend the entire night at the hospital. She knew that the hospital wasn't a place for her to be...

_"So why come here then? You could enlist into the military you know, become a state alchemist-"Dr. Evan was interrupted by the solemn face that his new apprentice was pulling. He sighed and pulled on his coat over his shoulders._

_"Sorry, Dr. Evans, the military really isn't the place for someone like me" Ruth admitted, holding her hands close to her chest and glancing down at the ground. White tiles. The flooring of her – hopefully – new workplace. _

_"Well, they could use someone like you, you're not half bad at alchemy" Dr. Evans commented as he eyed the smaller girl. Ruth shook her head._

_"No, I'm too weak. I get scared easily and I'm not too strong, plus my alchemy always ends up in a mess. It's not right for me" She breathed, sending Evans a weak smile. _

_The doctor frowned. "Well, alright then kid, whatever you like. But, if you want to stay here, there's something I want you to promise me"_

_Ruth brightened up and beamed at the taller man. "Really? What?"_

_Evans smirked. "You've got to learn to impress me"_

"But, how do I do that?" Ruth whispered, locking her eyes with the child's closed ones. The boy was no doubt slipping in and out of consciousness and was probably a step away from death, like most people were. Ruth's body went tense as she kept on staring at the boy. He could die at any moment. He could be dead. She checked his pulse on his wrist. She sighed and slumped back into her chair, hand on her forehead. "Phew..."

_"But possibility isn't our job, it's to save lives, so do it"_ Evan's voice rang through Ruth's head as she continued to contemplate about the boy's existence. Was he as good as dead? Or could she help him? Could she help everyone?

Hunching forward in her seat, Ruth held her hands out in front of her eyes, clenching and un-clenching her fists. She could try it. He commented on her alchemic skill before and even told her that she should try to enlist. So, because of this, she could try it, right? She could try and use it to save this boy – no – everyone.

Pouncing from her seat, she was indomitable now. Digging into the breast-pocket of her uniform, she pulled out a pen and began to scribble onto the palms of her hand. After a while, the circles on her hand were complete, although one of them was more wonky than the other with it being written with the hand she didn't normally write with. Pulling her hands into view, she watched them shake violently. Should she really do this? Could she really do this? She'd have to try first. She couldn't risk taking the whole hospital down with herself.

Whipping around to the bedside table, she found a large safety pin sat there innocently. Swallowing the lump at the back of her throat, she clapped her hands together, causing a flow of energy to pulse around each of the circles. And then, she pressed her hands onto the pin. There was a flash of alchemic light and then nothing. She hoisted her hands up, finding the pin exactly the same way it was beforehand. Her shoulders sagged. "It normally works on objects, I know it does, since I only use my alchemy on them" She said, her voice fading with each word as she gazed down at her hands, now clad in sweat and still shaking.

"It didn't work," she muttered helplessly, glancing over at the boy in the bed. Her brows then furrowed. Just because it didn't work with a pin didn't mean it wasn't going to work with a patient. She turned abruptly to the boy and held her hands over him. She held them there in mid-air as she began to pant softly, the sickly fear churning inside her gut, the fear that something bad would happen. But she knew she needed to learn how to grow up if she was to ever get what she wanted. She couldn't be a child forever.

She clapped her hands again and started a new flow of energy. Hesitantly, she planted her hands on the boy's body and alchemic light filled the room. Suddenly, Ruth could see other transmutation circles in the room, carved into the floor, glowing and beating with alchemic power in time with her alchemy. Sparks then flew from the circles on the floor and wrapped themselves like snakes around other patients, locking onto them with an iron grip. Gasping, Ruth lifted her hands from the boy and went to attend to the circle which mysteriously appeared on the floor. However, as soon as her hands left the boy's body, something happened to her alchemy and the energy was stopped immediately. The light faded away and the patients lay in their beds the same way they always did, lifelessly.

As Ruth tried to make her way over to the others, a dizzy rush took over her. She fell down onto the ground, her chin bouncing off the hard floor and her teeth cut sharply into her tongue. Ruth tried to scream, but found she was choking on the blood pouring from her tongue. Ruth tried to get up onto her feet to find help, only for her knees to buckle and keep her pinned to the floor. Once she was down in the dirt again, darkness overcame her and shut her out of the ward and welcomed her to another, abnormal place.

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Oh, oh, oh! I need help guys!**

You see, this story requires a few characters (who need to be homunculi) and I'm having trouble coming up with some and I'm sick of writing about only my characters (I do love them though guys! Honestly!) and wouldn't mind writing about some of yours, if you wanted me to.

But yeah, I need a few homunculi, I'm not sure as to how many yet. They can be any gender and have whatever power you want them to. But when it comes to the names, name them after a sin if you want, but they must have a normal, human name too, if you want me to explain why, just ask or wait till later in the story 'cause it'll explain that then.

Only do this if you want to, I don't mind really, I'm just in a jam and would like to write about other's peoples characters is all.

It's up to you.

Please review X.


	2. Chapter 01: First Encounter

Anything FMA related belongs to H/A any other characters and story belong to me.

Enjoy.

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Chapter 01: First encounter**

Marching hastily down the corridor, Edward Elric made his way to Mustang's office as quickly as possible; well, it was an emergency. The young alchemist had his younger brother, Alphonse Elric, trailing along behind him, his bulky metal body bumping into officers who were also rushing down the corridor. Edward noted that he really needed to get his brother's body back soon, for more reasons than one.

Halting outside of the Colonel's door, the older Elric made no attempt to knock and simply stormed straight into the room, a hateful glare spread across his features as he noticed Mustang sat at his desk, scribbling something down on several sheets of paper. The man was cursing furiously, tossing some papers in Riza Hawkeye's direction as she stood beside him, collecting the pieces of papers thrown at her. Glancing up, the lieutenant was the first to notice Fullmetal's presence. She then cleared her throat. "Sir," she said to the Colonel, catching his attention. Roy glanced up at Riza and then sent his gaze towards Edward.

For a second, Ed seemed a little taken aback by the Colonel's face. He wasn't wearing his usual smug expression he always had, particularly whenever he was giving Edward a mission. Instead, his cheeks were flushed with frustration, his brows were furrowed and some beads of sweat had gathered on his forehead. "You took your time, Fullmetal" He muttered, hoisting himself up from his seat.

Ed frowned. "I wasn't that long. Besides, if this is an emergency why are you complaining about that? Shouldn't you be getting down to business?" He spat, deciding that he'd make himself comfy on the chair before the Colonel's desk.

For a little while, Roy stood there and glared at the boy, not happy at all with his attitude. This had lasted until the Colonel turned away from the young alchemist and gazed out of the window, down into the streets of central. "Did you hear what was happening at the hospitals a couple of days ago?" Roy said in a monotone, not taking his eyes off the barren streets below.

"I heard that there was some sort of major accident and a lot of people got hurt, why?" Ed leaned forward in his chair, getting interested with the situation. At that point, Al came running through the door. Skidding to a stop, the armour rubbed the back of his head. "I'm sorry I'm late, Colonel..." He said with an apologetic bow at the end before he went to join his brother in front of Mustang's desk.

Roy then turned sharply to the brothers, eyeing the both of them. "That's a lie" He breathed. Ed arched a brow at him and Al was just confused altogether, having not been in the room when the conversation had first began. The older man stepped back over to his seat and dropped back into it, leaning over the desk towards the brothers. "There was no accident" He spoke darkly. Ed looked at the Colonel cautiously, but didn't say a word to him.

"Is this about the hospital the other day?" Alphonse asked, starting to catch on what the conversation was about. Roy nodded briskly and slumped back into his chair. At that moment, Al glanced around the room and found that Roy, Riza, his brother and he were the only ones inside of the Colonel's office. "Where's everyone else?"

Roy sighed loudly and rubbed his forehead. "Hospital" He muttered. Al gasped and Edward's jaw dropped.

"W-What happened to them?" Al asked, worry filling his voice.

"We don't know, they were same victims as everybody else. Although, they are fine now, they were lucky enough to have some of the best doctors in the hospital treating them" Riza explained in a reassuring tone. Al sighed and held a hand to his chest, relieved that they were all OK.

Roy closed his eyes and rubbed them sourly. "That's why we've been dumped with all this paperwork, because of their absence" He mumbled, grinding his teeth at the end. It made sense, the Colonel always hated paperwork.

"So, why are we here? To help you with your paperwork!? Because if th-"Edward was cut off by Riza, who shook her head. The alchemist glanced from the blonde women and to the Colonel. Roy pulled his hand from his eyes and opened them again, locking them straight away with Edward's.

"We want you to investigate what happened in those hospitals" Roy told him simply. Edward sent him a scowl and Roy matched it.

"But... "Al looked between his brother and Mustang. "Why us?"

"Because of your past" Riza stepped over to them, flicking through the pile of paper she held in her arms. She grasped onto the slices of paper she wanted and laid them out before the two brothers on the desk. It was a mass of photographs of people being treated in hospital beds. In each and every photo, the medics were all treating the same wounds on their right arm and left leg. Ed gaped a little and narrowed his eyes, scooping some of the pictures up in his hands, holding them close to his nose. The cuts looped around the same - or close to - spots where his arm and leg had been lost. The only different being the fact that the patient's limbs were still attached to their bodies.

Edward grimaced. "How did they get these wounds?" He whispered darkly, his eyes scanning the photos over and over again. Alphonse was trying to look down at the photos too, only for Ed's body to be in the way. The younger brother tapped the older on the shoulder and held his hand out for the photos. Hesitantly, Edward passed them to Al and turned back to face Mustang. The Colonel shrugged at the Elric. "I haven't the faintest clue about how they got these injuries, we asked around some people and they said they were just doing day-to-day activities when they suddenly began to bleed"

"That doesn't make any sense!" Edward barked, growling at Mustang. Roy shook his head, frowning strongly at the boy before him. "That isn't the only injury, Fullmetal" He said sharply and nodded his head at Riza. Edward glanced over to the lieutenant, who passed him another photograph. Ed took one glance at it before throwing it away, glad that it had landed face down.

"The blood is... everywhere" He barely managed to breath. Al went to pick the picture up, only to stop when Edward shook his head at him, making Al sink back into his chair.

Roy nodded at Fullmetal, pulling the photograph away from him. "Yes. And we think it represents Al's loss of his entire body, just like how the other wounds show your loss of your arm and leg. However, these are only guess. We don't actually know if these are even linked to you"

"They have to be" Ed whispered. He rested his elbows on his knees and held a fist up to his lips. "I mean, the injuries are almost identical" The Elric pulled his fist down and lifted his gaze to Mustang's again. "How many people had the injuries?"

"Hundreds, thousands, millions... We're not sure, so many people have died, majority from the injuries with their arms and legs. Mind you, this is only because most of them had this injury, very few had different ones" Roy explained, looking down at the papers on his desk.

Not a moment later, Edward shot up from his seat, fists held strongly by his sides. "We'll investigate this... It might even be our own fault... We'll go and ask around the hospital first, let's get going Al" Ed spun around on his heel and began to stride out of the room, followed closely by his brother. Roy bolted from his seat and around his desk. "Wait, Fullmetal!" He called, holding his hand up to the brothers. Ed and Al both stopped under the doorframe and turned around to Mustang.

"There is one more thing" Roy said, his breathing becoming a little heavier. Ed didn't ask and simply waited for the Colonel to explain, it wasn't like he had a lot of time, and more people could get hurt at any time. "Someone, used alchemy in the hospital. We can tell, since there are circles carved into the floor of each and every ward. You should check that out too"

Edward nodded. "OK then, we'll go and have a look around now"

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"Thanks a lot for taking us around the hospital, Dr. Baxter" Al said to the elderly man in a grateful tone. The grey man grinned and scratched bashfully at his snow-white beard. The doctor glanced down at Edward, who was too busy looking around at every inch of the building to notice the old man's gaze.

"So, Dr. Baxter, wasn't there some alchemy performed here not long ago?" Edward asked, his eyes locked with a ward as the doctor took them past it. Baxter chuckled a little and adjusted his round glasses on his crocked nose. "Well, I don't know much about alchemy, but some of the night shift staff claim to have been caught up a bright light" He explained to the state alchemist, stopping outside of a ward. The two brothers came to a halt and turned to the glass window which allowed one to look inside of the ward.

The ward had only the single bed, showing that it was a private one. It was also a lot cleaner than the other wards, probably because not patient from the incident had been treated in there. Rays of blazing sunlight filtered through the windows and pooled down on the shimmering white tiles and sheets in the room. The light bounced off the skin of the two people within the ward, one being a rather big man with dark brown hair, sitting on a chair beside the bed, where a girl lay. The girl had long ebony hair that reached down past her shoulders and sat comfortably on her chest. Blue eyes sparkled as she spoke happily with the man at her bedside. A bandage was wrapped around her forehead and stitches were just visible on her tongue as she spoke.

Ed and Al glanced up at the old doctor who had shown them to the ward. Upon feeling the brother's gaze, the man looked down at them with a warm smile. "That's Ruth and Dr. Evans. Ruth is Evans apprentice, although she isn't the most confident nurse I've met, but she has a heart of gold, bless her" Baxter set his eyes back onto the pair inside. "She was watching over some patients on the night when that alchemy was supposedly performed and was found unconscious later by some other staff"

Al and Edward's eyes met for a moment, as if exchanging thoughts as Baxter continued. "The sad part is, when she woke up she appeared to have some sort of bizarre memory loss"

"What? Couldn't she remember what happened to her or something? Isn't that normal after the body goes through something traumatic?" Al asked, getting a thoughtful look from Dr. Baxter.

"Well," he began, turning his gaze upward and placing a finger on his chin. "That is true, but that isn't only it"

"Is it her past too?" Edward persisted. Baxter sighed, weaving his arms behind his back and shaking his head.

"No, she does remember everything that happened in her past but... She can't remember faces" Baxter muttered, looking back over at Ruth as she laughed along with Dr. Evans. "To her, everyone in her past life, her friends and family are all just dark shadows haunting her. For some strange reason, the only face she can recognise is Evan's and she has only known him for a few months"

Edwards brows furrowed as his eyes fell up Ruth. He was convinced that it was her who had used alchemy in the hospital, his evidence being how she was knocked out and everyone else wasn't, even though they had been engulfed into the alchemy. But, if it was her, why would she use it? What purpose would she have? From Baxter's description, she seemed like a nice enough girl, so why would she bother to try and use alchemy? Unless her heart was bigger than her brain.

"Can we go inside?" Edward asked. Baxter looked down his nose at the boy, a brow raised for a moment, before he grinned and nodded eagerly. Nudging his head at Al, Edward stepped inside the ward, with his brother in close pursuit. "Hello, can we come in?" Edward spoke, catching the attention of both Evans and Ruth. Evan's placed a cold glare on the brothers, but nodded and rose up from his seat, offering it to them. Edward shook his head and simply stood by Ruth's bed, with Alphonse beside him.

"Ruth," Edward began, getting a confused look off the dark haired girl straight away. The boy grabbed onto the chain of his pocket watch and held it up into view. "Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward Elric" He stated, placing his watch back into his pocket. "I've come here to ask you some questions"

Ruth smiled brightly at Edward and nodded. "Sure, why not?" She pushed herself up in her bed, resting her back against the cool wall. Once she was comfortable, Ruth looked up at Alphonse, she seemed shocked by his appearance at first, but soon smiled at him. "Well, you certainly are big aren't you? I'm guessing that you're the younger brother, Alphonse Elric?"

"Yeah, that's right" Al chuckled, rubbing the back of his head, relieved that he wasn't going to be mistaken as the "Fullmetal Alchemist" again.

Ruth weaved her fingers together and sat her hands on her stomach, looking up at the brothers vibrantly. "So, what would you like to ask-"

"Hold on, Ruth" Evans whispered, sending the brothers a harsh scowl. "Are you sure, you've been answering questions for a while now. All these military dogs..."

Ruth laughed and patted the man's hand. "Its fine, Doctor. I'm don't mind, honestly" She comforted him, keeping her hand on top of his as he sat back down beside her, keeping his hand upon her bed. Turning her attention back to the Elrics, she nodded and beckoned for them to continue.

"Alright then. Could you tell us what you were doing when you stayed behind on the night of the incident?" Edward questioned, placing his hands into the pockets of his red coat. Ruth lifted a finger to her chin and thought for a moment.

"Well, I was watching over this little boy. But after that, I can't remember" She answered, placing her hand back onto her stomach. Ed frowned a little but allowed it to pass as he began to think up another question for her to answer. "What about beforehand? Just before you went to look after that boy, what did you do then?" He enquired, rubbing his chin with his flesh hand.

Ruth stayed silent for a while, her eyes narrowing as she forced the memories back to herself. "I think... I was cleaning up from treating other patients and then I saw Dr. Evans off, I believe" Edward glanced over at Evans to clarify it. The bulky man nodded sternly, still sending the boys hateful looks.

Shivering from the look, Edward turned back to Ruth and tried to think of another question.

"What about your family?" Al blurted, his arms open a little. "Didn't you contact them to tell them you were staying here over night?"

Ruth looked down at her hand as it sat on her abdomen. "I was... speaking with someone on the phone, but I don't think I can recognise their voice" She whispered, her tone turning pessimistic towards the end.

Doctor Evan's features fell and he squeezed the girl's hand affectionately. Ruth turned her head towards the Doctor and smiled at him. Ed's eyes narrowed at this. Ruth's smile, it didn't look like a normal friendly smile, or even a grateful smile. The smile looked loving, as if she was holding the hand of the man she loved and not the doctor's. Surely they couldn't have a relationship; she was far too young for Dr. Evans. On top of that, she's his apprentice, a workmate and it shouldn't really be anything more, especially since she didn't seem to have known him for too long, according to Baxter anyway.

"Dr. Evans, could I talk to Ruth in private, please?" Edward requested, keeping his eyes locked on Ruth and finger on his chin. Evans snarled at him and shot up to his feet, towering over Edward, his features dark. Ruth yelped and held her hand out to the doctor. "No! It's alright, Doctor! I'll talk to him alone, honestly, it's fine. Please don't do anything to him, please" Ruth begged from the sidelines. Evans flared his nostrils at Edward before he stormed out of the room and joined Baxter outside.

Edward looked over his shoulder at Alphonse. "Sorry, Al could you-"

"OK brother" Al said, waving his hand, showing that he didn't mind as he walked out of the room, closing the door shut carefully behind him. Once it was only the two of them in the room, Ed pulled up the seat that Evans was sat on and made himself comfortable, his gaze flickering over his shoulder to those looking at them from the outside and then back to Ruth again.

"OK then Ruth, I was wondering if you could tell me what your relationship with Dr. Evans is like. If it's fine with you" Ed whispered, looking a little uneasy about bringing up the subject. But he had to know. If it was Ruth who did the alchemy, it could have been for the wrong reasons, especially if Evans was involved. For some reason, Edward didn't trust that man at all; he felt that there was something about him that he wouldn't like. And because of this he assumed that Evans could be playing Ruth to do his dirty work for him, if Edward's hunch was correct of course.

Ruth smiled at Edward, looking like she had nothing at all to hide. "Of course, it's not like there's anything going on. I'm his apprentice and he's tutoring me with the medical industry" She said with a little laugh at the end. Ed looked a little taken aback.

"Is that all?" He asked quickly, leaning forward in his seat.

Ruth nodded. "Of course"

"You're lying to me" Ed snapped back in a dark tone. Ruth flinched and sent Edward a stunned look.

"I-I'm not-"

"I'm sorry, Ruth, but you are. I saw the way you were looking at him and it didn't look as if you were staring at your tutor, more like you were staring at your lover" Edward whispered in a raspy voice. Ruth didn't answer as she simply gaped at him, her blue eyes wide. Slowly, she shook her head, but Edward countered it with a strong nod. "It's true though, you love him, I can tell and I don't know anything about the subject. But, whether there's a relationship going on I don't know, since you're denying it, I'm guessing that he doesn't return the same feelings as your own"

Ruth's eyes welled up with tears. She bit onto her sewn tongue in her mouth and clenched her fists around the sheets covering her, bringing them up to her chest. Again, she shook her head. Edward sighed and lifted himself up from his seat. "I'm sorry if I've upset you, but you've got to face reality" He told her, his tone completely unreformed. Placing his hands in his pockets, he began to walk out the room. The Elric stopped in front of the door for a moment.

"I'll come back later to ask you some more questions. I'll give you some time to calm down first" He snapped his gaze over his shoulder as her could hear Ruth sob into the sheets. Sighing, he grasped the door knob in hand and turned it. As he went to pull the door open, it was swung open and sent him flying across the room. Edward landed on his right shoulder and skidded across the floor until he crashed into the wall.

"Brother!" Al's voice called from outside. Edward groaned and looked up after feeling a dark shadow fall over him. His eyes landed on the monstrous frame of Dr. Evans. Looking into his eyes, Edward knew that the man truly wasn't happy. "Why is she crying?" Evans growled, glaring powerfully at Edward. The alchemist brought himself up onto his feet, rubbing the side of his head where it had hit the wall. Edward didn't say anything to him and glared at him hatefully.

Evan's fists were shaking by his sides and he was obviously trying to hold everything back. Then Alphonse came into view behind the man, looking ready to jump him. Hastily, Edward mouthed "no" to Alphonse, not wanting to get him involved. In the background, Edward heard Baxter call for security.

Evans and Edward remained there for a while, burning holes into each other's eyes with their glares. Alphonse had turned his attention to Ruth, who was trying to catch back her breath and try to call Evan, not wanting him to hurt anyone. After all, it was clearly obvious that this man could pack a punch.

After a while, the sound of boots rushing down the corridor echoed into the room. "In there, it's Dr. Evans" Baxter cried to the two security men running towards the ward. The man swung themselves into the room and stood behind Evans, ready to grab him if they needed to. "Come on, doctor. You don't want to hurt anyone, that's not your job" One of them told the man. Grinding his teeth, Evans spun around to the guards and looked down at them as if they were filth before he stormed out of the room. He passed the window and locked his eyes with Edward's again. At that moment, Edward knew that this wouldn't be the only encounter he would have with the doctor.

"I'm so sorry!" Ruth sobbed, looking helplessly towards Edward. "I'm so sorry! It's not his-"

"You shouldn't be apologising, you didn't do anything" Edward muttered, not even glancing over at Ruth. "We'll come back later" He said simply and stalked out of the room.

Alphonse placed a hand on Ruth's shoulder. "Don't push yourself, OK?" He told her, getting a soft nod off her before he followed his brother out of the ward.

Al ran up to his brother and bent down to whisper to him as they walked down the corridor. "What did you do?" He rasped, causing Ed to look up at him.

"I just asked her something, that's all"

"Yeah right, brother"

"Come, Al. We should take a good look at those transmutation circles and then we'll come back to see her again" Edward told Alphonse as they walked past another ward.

Just as they were about to walk away from it, a familiar voice called out to them. "Hey, Edward!" Ed and Al froze before turning to the ward.

"Havoc!?"

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Hope you liked that chapter, it took me a while to get it finished but hey, ho.

Was listening to "Looking Glass by The Birthday Massacre" when writing this, it helped for whatever reason.

Please review X.


	3. Chapter 02: Opening

Anything FMA related belongs to H/A any other character and story belong to me.

Enjoy.

**

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Chapter 02: Opening**

"So, how're you feeling now? And where is Falman and the others? Aren't they here too?" Alphonse asked Havoc, relaxed in his hospital bed. The man smirked, a cigarette held loosely between his lips. "Well, I've certainly been better, but yeah I'm fine, kid. And yes they are here, although we've been put into different wards for our own peace of mind" He said with a bitter laugh towards the end.

Edward sat beside Havoc; he hadn't said a word since they came into the room. Unlike the ward with Ruth inside, this one wasn't private and was packed out with lots of patients. The patients all had the same dressings wrapped around their arms and legs. Edward shivered inwardly at this. These injuries belonged to him, or at least he assumed they did, they were all the same. But not only were they his, but Al's also, judging from the photo Riza had shown him when he was at the Colonel's office earlier that day. The state the patient was in that photo scared him, bleeding from each and every part of his body, from long and slender gashes that were spread aimlessly around him. He had bled to death, he knew that much. But what Edward wanted to know, was how all of these people managed to start bleeding in the first place. Nobody would be able to get such injuries from just doing what they did every day.

He had to find out what everyone was doing, to see if anyone at all was doing something that could have caused some harm. Lifting his gaze up to Havoc, Edward's eyes landed straight onto his bandaged arm. The Elric frowned; his flesh hand reaching up and landing on the same spot on his own arm, where skin met metal.

Havoc had looked down at Edward by now and noticed his motion on his arm, his stretched his smirk a little. "Yeah, it is a little strange huh? How they're in the same place as, well, you know" He chuckled nervously at the end, only just remembering that he wasn't the only person in the room right now.

"Havoc, I was wondering, what were you doing when this happened to you?" The alchemist asked, lifting his eyes up to Havoc's face, his hand remaining on his shoulder. The older man shrugged and pulled the cigarette from between his lips. "I was just walking up to Mustang's office when, boom! I was on the floor bleeding, just like some other people there" He told him, stuffing his cigarette back in his mouth.

Edward scrunched his face and dropped his hand, allowing it to land between his knees as he stared down at the ground. None of it made sense, not in the slightest.

Havoc frowned as he watched Edward try desperately to think something up, something to explain everything. "Oh well," he sighed, weaving his arm behind his head and leaning back against the wall. "Something will come around the corner and help you out-"At that very moment, a nurse came bustling around the corner, light blonde hair bouncing off her small shoulders. Havoc's attention on the brothers faded and his eyes were content on the nurse as she attended to some other patients.

It only took a second for the brothers to notice that their presence here was now completely pointless. A sweat drop rolled down Ed and Al's head. "Speaking of "coming around the corner"..." Alphonse chuckled and his brother sighed, pushing himself up from his seat.

"Looks like there is no point in sticking around now, Al. Let's go and take a look at those circles now, huh?" Ed whispered as he walked up to his brother. Al nodded and turned to follow his brother out of the ward. He whipped around to Havoc for a second. "See you later, Lieutenant" He said with a small bow and he hopped after his brother who was already waltzing down the corridor.

"We'll go and see if we can find a ward that isn't so busy and have a look at the circle there" Edward glanced up at Al as he walked beside him. Al didn't reply and let his eyes wonder up in thought.

"Wouldn't it be better if..." Al shook his head at the end. "No, it's silly, forget it. Let's go for your idea brother" Al said, his tone sounding a little panicked for a moment. Edward let it go with a shrug and kept on walking down the corridor, his eyes flickering from ward to ward. Full. They were all full. Only those lucky enough to get a private ward were on their own or with a little amount of people. And, for some reason, the private wards were completely untouched by alchemy.

If it wasn't bad enough not being able to get a more private room with evidence, what was coming next for the Elric's – or at least Edward – was only going to make it worse. As they marched down another corridor on a different floor, they just so happened to bump right into the path of a certain bulky doctor. Evans.

The large man stared down at Edward with disgust as his shadow fell upon him like a deadly blanket. Edward didn't hesitate to return the glare; his head was still throbbing from where he had hit the wall before.

"You" They both spat in a dark unison.

---

Ruth had sat in complete silence since her encounter with Fullmetal. She stared vacantly at her hands sat on her lap. Every now and then a finger would twitch and she would flinch a little, but besides that she made no movement at all. By now, her lunch had grown ice cold. The nurses would try and try to get her to eat, however she acted as though they weren't even there. One nurse thought she'd try to spoon feed the girl the tomato soup, only for Ruth to not even shift her lips as the spoon was pressed against them and some of the soup to slip from the spoon and down her gown. The nurse then fussed over her for a few minutes, getting as much of the soup off as possible and making sure that Ruth's hair was tucked behind her ears for when she does eventually eat her food.

Not that she had planned to; she was too busy being caught up in her thoughts. What Edward had said to her kept playing through her mind over and over again. She was close to Evans, yes. But, she couldn't possibly love him, could she? She knew that she had some sort of immature cruse towards the man. But love, that was too much. That was taking the bullet in the gut for her, she couldn't actually love somebody that much older than herself. On top of that, the man would undoubtfully already be in a relationship.

He wouldn't love a girl like her anyway, even if he wasn't already in love and the right age. She knew that he wouldn't.

Ruth's lips sealed tightly shut and her shoulders began to bounce up and down as she tried hard to control her tears. She could hear them laughing at her from behind her back. She could even before she lost the faces from her memories. But where the laughter came from she never knew and she always tried to let it past herself. After all, she wasn't strong, talented or a fighter. She was a weak, uncertain little girl who always had too high hopes for her own future. And she would need to learn how to push away those childish fantasies and become the women she's meant to be.

"Hello, Ruth. How are we feeling now?" A nurse smiled brightly at the girl. Ruth's eyes remained on her hands for a while, yet they gradually made their way over to the nurse. The girl let out a breath and forced a small smile. The nurse then frowned and leaned in closer towards the girl, examining her eyes. "Ruth, why are you crying?" She asked in a kind tone.

Ruth laughed a little and began to wipe her tears with the backs of her fists. "O-Oh, have I?" She looked down at her hands and gaped a little. "Oh, um, goodness I have. I'm not sure why" She lied, grinning cheesily at the end.

The nurse looked down at her sceptically, but she allowed it to pass and gathered up Ruth's untouched soup in her hands. "Well," she began, not looking up at Ruth as she straightened out her sheets a little. "If you want anything, let me know, OK?" She gave Ruth a final smile before turning to leave.

"A-Actually!" Ruth called after her, holding a hand out to her. The nurse stiffened and turned to Ruth, smiling still. "I was wondering, is it OK if I go and look for Dr. Evans?" The dark haired girl asked with a hopeful smile. The nurse sent her a cautious look.

"Well, I'm not really supposed to let a patient wonder about, but then again you are his apprentice... so you also work here too so... and you do seem a lot better" The nurse trailed off at the end. Ruth bit her lower lip, her brows falling as she gave the nurse a helpless face. The nurse glanced around, searching for some kind of excuse, until she found herself having to give in. "OK, fine. But if anyone says anything you wondered off on your own, I had nothing to do with it, 'kay?"

Ruth beamed up at the nurse and began to shuffle about under the sheets, eager to get out of the bed and find the doctor. She waited until the nurse had scurried out of the room and down the corridor, then she threw her legs over the side of the bed and lowered them slowly towards the floor. She shivered as her bare toe made contact with the icy floor below. Forcing the rest on her feet onto the cold surface, Ruth pushed herself to a stand. Her balance wavered for a bit and she grasped onto the edge of the bed in order to help gain it back.

With her balance regained, Ruth began to make her way towards the door. Her legs felt like they had the same weight as a tonne of bricks as she lifted each of them for each step. Her stomach was also complaining with hunger by now too, Ruth wished that she wasn't in a daze earlier and had eaten her lunch. Slumping against the door, Ruth gazed through the narrow window, checking that the corridor was empty. One doctor was walking around and was heading towards her; however he turned into another room just before hers. This was her chance now. Twisting the doorknob, she leaned back and tugged it open. The door swung out of her grip and slammed into the wall. Ruth planted her hands on her ears and clenched her eyes shut at the sudden sound.

Hastily, Ruth gathered herself and marched as quickly as her lead legs could carry her. Now all she would have to do is wonder around aimlessly until she came across Evans. Hopefully she wouldn't bump into anyone else on her journey round.

---

"What did you say to her, Elric!?" Evans barked, glaring down at Edward past his younger brother, who was stood between the two, stopping them both from tearing out each other's throats. Edward shook his head, refusing to answer the man's question. It was a complete matter of privacy that Evans of all people shouldn't be allowed to access.

Evans growled and pushed forward to get to him, only for Al to hold out his arm and shove him back a little. "Please, Doctor, don't" Al told him sharply. Edward was relieved that he was stood between the pair of them, he knew that his younger brother would be a lot stronger than this giant man and would make sure that he wouldn't get to him.

"He made her cry! And I want to know what he did to make her do that!" He snapped back at the armour. Al shook his head and sighed. They had been over this again and again for a while and they really, really needed to go and look at those circles right now. "Look," Al said to him in a calm tone, "don't you think that whatever it was might not be any of your business, brother did send you out for that matter and me too. So, wouldn't you agree with me when I say that the matter was private?"

Edward smirked behind his brother's back, knowing how Alphonse was thinking that exact same way he was at the moment. Evans roared at Al and tried again to push him aside and get Edward. Ed's brow twitched and his automail fist shook, desperate to knock a few of Evan's teeth out – OK then, so maybe the two brothers weren't thinking exactly the same way, but still.

"Come on, please calm down. Do you think Ruth will be happy if you hurt my brother!?" Alphonse barely managed to squeak as the man tried to fight his way through. At this Evan's body went still, paused in mid-motion. One large hand was clamped on Al's arm and the other clawing at Edward. The man's angry features dropped and replaced with a much softer one. Ed's smirk widened. "You, that's right!" He backed Al up with a grin. Evans grumbled something at the alchemist and made one final swipe at him.

Al's arms began to drop back to his sides as Evans retreated back, but the boy made sure to keep himself alert just in case. Evans let out a stressed sigh and fixed the stray strands of dark hair that came astray from his ponytail. "Alright, you want to know where you can take a good look at them circle things, right?" He said idly, keeping his eyes fixed on Alphonse. The armour brightened up at this.

"Could you take us there?" He asked in a much happier voice. Evans tugged on the collar of his coat and nodded briskly.

"Yes, follow me" He said, whisking around and marching down the corridor. Al turned to his brother, who was looking up at Al arrogantly. The armour chuckled a little and began to pursue the doctor, ensuring that his brother stayed close by in case the man lost his temper again.

The three then stalked down the corridor and up a staircase, returning to the floor where they had first met Dr. Evans. Evans then led them down a corridor that had been blocked. The brothers seemed a bit unsure about following Evans into this forbidden part of the hospital, but followed the doctor anyway, it must have been OK for staff to go down there and also Edward was a part of the military. Evans stood outside of a ward and held his hand out to it, gesturing for the boys to go inside.

The ward was empty and hadn't been cleaned, the crimson carpet still laid out from the incident. The room was dark and a couple of cobwebs began to gather in the corners of the room. Evans stepped forward and flipped on a light switch. It was then the boys understood why the corridor was off limits. Bodies were still laid in the beds, blankets pulled over them, a couple of them having their pale feet poking out of them. On top of that, there were circles carved into almost every inch of the floor, some looping in and out of each other.

"There was no more room for the dead downstairs, so we had to block off some corridors on each floor and keep them in their beds there" Dr. Evans explained as Edward swept past him and crouched down by a circle on the floor. Al stood by the doctor's side, looking down at him with horrified eyes.

"That many people died?"

Evans snorted. "Sure did. Why, did you expect only a few?"

"Hey, doctor" Edward called, keeping his golden eyes locked with the circles at his feet. Evans glared at him. "What?" He spat.

"How many people here know alchemy, people who work here?" He asked in a monotone. The doctor creased his brow in thought.

"Not many actually, the only one I can name for you here and now is actually my apprentice"

Edward spun his head around to him. "Ruth? Yeah, that does make sense then" He whispered, turning back to the circle. The boy hung his head so his hair sheltered his eyes from view, knowing that Evans would be glaring at him and would end up distracting him from examining the circles.

"What do you mean "it makes sense"? What does?" Evans blurted, taking a step towards Edward. Al sent him a sharp look, pinning the man in place with his eyes. Evans froze in mid motion, shrugged and retreated back again. Al sighed, glad that Evans seemed a lot more comfy with him and probably wouldn't harm Edward so long as he was here.

"It means, doctor, that it was more than likely Ruth who used alchemy here that night" Edward alleged, tracing a finger around a circle's edge. Dr. Evans snorted.

"She wouldn't be able to carve a circle into the floor. She can barely tear up a piece of paper" He retorted.

Edward rubbed his chin in thought. "Well, maybe it was someone else who did these and when Ruth used alchemy – for whatever reason – it triggered a greater reaction" He said idly, not really talking to anyone in particular.

"The only way we could know for sure is if Ruth were to tell us herself, right?" Al queried, finally feeling confident to leave the doctor alone and stand by his brother instead.

"Well, the fact that she collapsed for no real reason shows that it could have been her, the alchemic energy could have been too much for her and knocked her out" Ed suggested, glancing up at Al for a second viewpoint. Al nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, she might had all the energy she had drained out of her and then she went in unconsciousness as a result" Al said, smacking a fist into his palm at the end, feeling a sense of triumph.

Edward smirked up at Al before hoisting himself up onto his feet again, looking down at the circle from a higher point of view. "But, if all that's true and someone else drew out theses circles, who did it and why?" Al asked his brother. Ed shook his head in return. His golden eyes then wondered up to a body hidden under a sheet.

"We need to worry about what that alchemy did too" He whispered, strolling over to one of the beds. Al and Evan's eyes followed the alchemist carefully as he stopped before a bed. He slowly lifted a hand up and took a weak hold of the sheet covering a body. He then began to slowly pull it back, revealing the being beneath.

* * *

I'm really getting into writing this story a lot at the moment :) it's fun to write.

Please review X.


	4. Chapter 03: Duplicate

Anything FMA related belongs to H/A any other charcters and story belong to me.

Enjoy.

**

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Chapter 03: Duplicate**

"What... the hell?" Edward dropped the blanket and backed off from the body in the bed. Al and Evans exchanged glances before stepping over to the alchemist. The two of them remained silent as they stood a few feet from Edward, who was staring in awe at the body, which was shielding the frame from view. Al went to get closer and have a look at what caused his brother to back off, when Edward suddenly whirled around and bolted past them, racing over to another body.

He lifted another sheet off and dropped it in the same manor he did with the first one. Then he ran off to another body, and another, and then another. Both Al and Evans had been following the boy with their eyes the whole time, the pair of them asking "what's wrong?" every time Edward would drop a blanket.

After a while of repetition, Edward spun around to Evans and held both arms out at him. "Is this some sort of joke? Is this why you brought us here?" He barked, sending death glares at the doctor. Evans shook his head as he turned to a body and tore a blanket away. "I don't know what you're-"He went tense once his eyes fell upon the body that was once hidden by the sheet. The bulky man took a couple of steps back, eyes wide. Al leaned back, looking past the man's large body and to the one in the bed.

It was a body of a child, dressed up in a bloodied gown with yellowing bandages wrapped around its wounds. However, that wasn't the part that struck the three of them. It was the strange thing that was on the child's head. It appeared to be a sort of helmet, with no gap to be able to view or breathe through. The helmet itself was black and round like a ball, stopping where the base of the head met the neck. But that wasn't the only thing that bothered them; it was the red symbol that was on the front of the mask, covering the body's entire face. The symbol was of a dragon chasing its own tail, with a star trapped in the middle. The Ouroboros.

Al glanced over at his brother. "They're all the same" He told Al, keeping his eyes locked onto Evans. "What do you make of this, doctor?" The blonde whispered darkly. Evans shook his head, backing away a little more.

"I've got no idea, kid. They weren't like this when we covered 'em up. It must be a prank" Evans breathed, freezing once he backed up into Alphonse.

Alphonse turned to his brother. "Do you think it could be a prank?" He asked. Edward shook his head huskily. "They're all too well crafted. They're all exactly the same to just be a joke some kids pulled up. And besides, what person in the right mind goes around sticking helmets on dead bodies?"

Al lowered his head. "True..."

Edward began to stalk over to the child's body, his eyes narrowed at it. Could it have been the homunculi? After all, it did have their symbol on it. And if they did this, does that mean that they were also responsible for the incident? They do know what the brother's have lost and using their powers could mimic them as much as possible. But then again, as powerful as they were, they are few in number and wouldn't be able to cause so many casualties so rapidly.

The blonde's hand hovered over the helmet. Gulping softly, Edward lowered his hand until his finger tips were pressed against the skin of the helmet. For a moment, nothing happened. But then, there was a sudden flash of a bright, white light. Several different circles snapped onto the helmet, melting into the background behind the Ouroboros. Edward blinked and went to examine the circles, however they disappeared a second later. The blonde cursed and went to touch the helmet again, only to halt when he noticed the child's body start to twitch a little. He didn't need to be told twice as he backed away and allowed the dead body of the child to sit up?

Edward's eyes widened at the sight of the body's reawakening. He jumped back to where Al and Evans stood, glancing over his shoulder at them. "B-Brother, what did you do!?" Al exclaimed as more bodies began to sit up, some of them stretching or examining their limbs. Ed threw his hands up in the air. "I didn't do anything! All I did was touch the helmet and then-"He was cut short by another explosion of alchemic light. Ed lifted his arms up to shield his eyes, as did Evans and Al pushed his metallic body out before them, sheltering them from harm.

---

The corridor she went down was a lot darker than the others she went down in her search for the doctor. Being unsuccessful in finding out Dr. Evans whereabouts upstairs, Ruth decided to take a journey downstairs. However, once she came to the first floor beneath the ground floor, she had noticed how there was nobody around – or hardly anyway, every now and then a member of staff would stalk past her.

The lights in the corridor had all been turned off, the little light that was there coming from the several staircases that led up to the higher floors. The world down here wasn't unknown to her, she remembered coming down here to treat a few people before. But now the place was completely desolate, not a sound coming from any patient who resigned down there.

Ruth was glad that it was quiet down there though, she needed some piece in order to clear her head. Yet, as much as she felt a need for the silence, it also frightened her. Wasn't there living patients down here? She knew that this was the place where dead bodies were kept, but desperate times called for desperate measures and patients had to be moved downstairs, some of them probably being those who were already in hospital.

Slumping against a cool wall, Ruth held herself there for a while, her body still feeling heavy as she tried to carry it around the hospital. Resting against her shoulder on the wall, she lifted her hands into view. Her palms were sweaty and shaking, along with the rest of her body. She didn't want to be down here, it didn't feel right. She felt as though she was disturbing the rested. It was fine when she had come down to this floor before when she was among other, living people and trying to help them. But it was different now. She was no longer the nurse but the patient.

Suddenly, a bright flash of white light erupted from the different rooms throughout the corridor, all of the doors bursting open and slamming into the walls. Ruth felt her heart skip several beats and her knees buckled under her, taking her down to the ground. The light went as soon as it came and left Ruth in the darkness again. The girl tried to control her rapidly beating heart as she held her hands over it.

There was a long, eerie silence. Ruth could feel a bitterly cold draft brush past her face, sending a chill down her spine. Then, there was a soft sound of several feet padding on the tiled floor. Ruth forced herself as far up as her legs would let her. She stood with her back against the wall and her knees bent a little under her, her arms spread out across the wall and her head tossing back and forth as she looked for the source of the noise. Again, there was a flash of white light and then it went away again.

Then they were there, walking steadily across the tiles, spilling their way out of the different rooms like blood would from a wound. Each and every one of these people were dressed up in their filthy hospital gowns and nothing on their feet. And there was that black helmet on their heads.

Ruth squeaked and pushed herself away from the wall, backing off from them. She stared at them with horrified eyes. "Y-You're supposed to be... dead" She said in an undertone. They didn't say anything as they tilted their heads in her direction, only some of them having noticed that she was there in the first place. Then they began to march in her direction. Their feet made only tiny steps as they walked, their arms hung limply by their sides and their spines were hunched forward a little, looking as if they were struggling to keep holding their heads up high.

Letting out a scream, Ruth spun around went to run when she saw more of them sauntering around behind her. She knew that she couldn't stay here any longer and took off immediately, pushing her way past the supposedly dead people and rushed forward, looking for any staircase or access to the floor upstairs. She would have to tell everyone. Tell them that the dead are walking. If they didn't believe her, she'd have to show them, it wasn't as if she didn't have any evidence.

Her eyes snapped around, looking at the people she passed by on her journey. But were they really people? They had a strange symbol on their helmets, a symbol that Ruth knew from somewhere, although she wasn't at all too sure. She had actually half-expected them to try and grab her of something as she ran, but they made no move against her and continued on walking as if she wasn't even there. Did that mean that they didn't pose a threat?

Ruth slowed down to a walking pace, still surrounded by the beings. As they walked past her, they tilted their helmets down at her, looking at her, not causing her any harm at all. It seemed that they were actually just going somewhere. Where that was though, Ruth had no idea. But even if that was just their purpose, Ruth still had to tell someone, it was never a normal thing for the dead to rise. And it couldn't have been a joke, there was too many people walking around. It was all those who had departed on that day.

Suddenly, a hand clamped onto Ruth's shoulder and held on tightly. Ruth went to scream, only for another hand to cup her mouth and muffle her cries. On the verge of tears, Ruth glanced back and noticed an old man with a white beard. She sighed. It was only Dr. Baxter. The doctor's eyes locked with Ruth's and then he let her go, turning his attention to the beings walking around. "What are they?" Ruth asked, her voice trembling. Baxter shook his head.

"I don't know what they are, but they've been waking up all around the hospital. The military are here now trying to stop them" Baxter explained, walking over to a being that was taller than him. Adjusting his glasses he began to side-step in time with the living dead person and examined it was it walked. Ruth hopped over to him, clinging onto a part of his long coat.

"But, Dr. Baxter, I don't think that they want to hurt us. They didn't hurt me and by the looks of things they haven't touched you either..." Ruth explained to him, her voice sounding desperate throughout. Baxter sighed and turned to her, not following after the being he had been examining before. "I know that. But, they shouldn't be alive; these people are all of those who are dead. On top of that, they seem to want to go outside and we don't know what kind of damage they could cause then" Baxter protested. The doctor removed his glasses from his face and cleaned them on his coat.

"You go back upstairs and find Evans, he'll keep you safe" Baxter muttered, placing his glasses back onto his nose. Ruth clenched her fist and held it up to her chest.

"But, what are you going to-"

"Just get out of here. You'll be in no danger on your way up, just find Evans and get out" He backed, prying her from his coat and shoving her down the corridor. Ruth tripped over and landed on her shoulder. She winced and bared her teeth as her frail body smashed into the firm ground below. Her eyes slowly cracked open and she found herself staring at hundreds of different pair of feet walking around her and heading towards the staircase that was not far out of reach now. Quickly, she glanced back, hoping to find Baxter. However the old man had already disappeared into the crowd and left her to fend for herself.

Ruth scrambled to her feet and bolted towards the stairs. She weaved in and out of the people as she ran, bumping into some of their shoulders and nearly causing them to trip over from it. She apologised to them as she ran through them all, wondering if they could even hear her. Clambering up the stairs, she pushed past more of the beings until she came to the door at the top. None of the other's had made it up there yet and she prayed that they didn't barricade the door. She planted her hand on the handle and forced it down. The door swung open with ease and allowed her passage out onto the ground floor, however she found herself unable to move at the sight that was before her.

Soldiers, hundreds of them were all blocking off the hospitals entrance – of exit in the dead's terms – and pointed guns in the direction of those in helmets. It was clear that the military were struggling to hold back these people as they tried to force their way through. They climbed over the soldiers, hands reaching for the doors. However, the soldiers were stronger and managed to shove them off and would smack them on their heads with the back of their guns.

Ruth glanced over her shoulder at the beings making their way up towards the door. She winced, not wanting to shut them in the dark, but she had to if she didn't want them to get hurt. Spinning around, she grasped the door and swung it shut, pressing her back against it in attempt to kept it held there tightly. However, this proved no use as the doors were easily driven open. Ruth was thrown onto the floor again, right into the edge of the crowd as they marched on forward. She panted and pushed herself up onto all fours, staring at the ground.

The beings' marching was now starting to become desperate. They were no longer in a simple, steady pace with one another, but were now charging towards the doors. Some of them even made it within inches of the door, only to get hit on the head by a soldier.

"Ruth!" A loud voice called. The girl flinched a little but made no move from what she was. "Ruth!" It called again, this time coming closer. "Ruth! We have to move!" A long, thin shadow loomed over her. Gradually, she tilted her head up, finding herself gazing up at Baxter. He was panting hard and had scratches all over his face. His long coat had been ripped to shreds and was now hanging as a pathetic piece of cotton on his shoulders. He crouched down before her and placed his withered hands on her shoulders. "They're dying to go outside and are now starting to get violent just to get out!" He yelled, panting between each word. Ruth didn't say anything and let her eyes wonder over to the door where the people with helmets were being beaten down by the military.

"Ruth! Listen to m-"Baxter was then cut off short. He stared at Ruth with his bright, wide eyes. The girl wasn't even looking up at him as she kept her eyes on what was happening elsewhere. But she knew what had happened there and then, for the scarlet fluids had been sprayed all over her face and was caught in a tangled mess in her ebony hair. Baxter's hands fell off Ruth's shoulders as his eyes rolled over white and he then fell to the ground.

Ruth didn't even glance at the body before her as her eyes shrank in fear and disbelief. Her arms began to quiver as they held her up. The girl remained there until she felt the warm liquid pool trickle over to where she was, leaking into her clenched fists. Gasping, she pulled back, sitting down on her calves and staring in awe at her blood stained hands.

She then diverted her gaze to the body laid out before her. Baxter's body. He was staring at her with half-closed eyes, which were completely white. His cold lips were parted a little and all the colour had drained from his face. There was then a jagged cut along his throat, looking as though it was cut with something blunt rather than something smooth and sharp.

Ruth's jaw dropped to scream, only for nothing to come out, not even the smallest squeak. She hovered her way up to her feet, holding her hands out in case she was to fall. Her eyes were withheld on the doctor's body, tears pouring from her eyes like waterfalls, causing a minute amount of the splattered blood on her face to wash away. She then bared her teeth and slammed her palms over her eyes. Her screams then matched the revolted cries of the banshee.

She collapsed onto her knees and pulled Baxter's head onto her lap. She curled up into a tight ball, cradling the doctor's lax head against her body as she wept into his wheat hair. Not only did she loose someone who she could call a friend. But she lost him by her negligence. Of course she knew it wasn't her own hands precisely, but it might as well have been.

---

Ed, Al and Evans all only just managed to make it to the ground floor. They had to push their way past a vast collection of the living dead and such a task was never too easy. As they came closer towards the ground, they noticed how the beings had picked up their pace and began to push past the soldiers who made their way up. It was actually rather lucky that the three of them had to big, bulky guys on their side to make it easier to get through the crowd.

Edward panted and rested against a door frame as they made it to the entrance. "There's no end to these things!" He barked, rubbing his forehead with the back of his sleeve.

"Just be grateful that none of these things went into any of the wards to attack patients, otherwise it'd be much more packed since we'd have to evacuate" Evans said in a gruff tone, crossing his arms and watching some of the beings storm past them, not taking an interest in the three as they stood in the doorway. "The only thing that really concerns me is what they are" The big man finished, glancing over at the two brothers.

"I don't know, but I've got an idea" He muttered, heaving himself from his rest and bolting into the crowd. By the Ouroboros symbol on their heads, it wasn't a wonder why both of the brothers had assumed that these people were homunculi. But how and who could create such a massive number of them in a short space of time? There was nothing on the planet that could be equivalent exchange for this amount of lives. But, first things first, Edward had to double check that these people were homunculi.

He glanced around the crowd as he made his way through it, looking to see if any of the beings had just been hurt and were regenerating. But there was too many of them to even see ones on two feet, let alone a regenerating homunculus. So he would have to get one of them himself. Edward bit down on the glove of his flesh and hand pulled it off, holding it between his teeth. He then turned to the being closest to him and lifted his hand up to its arm. He then dragged his index finger down it, using enough force to create a tiny cut. He then watched the wound closely and in a few seconds alchemic lights sparked around the bleeding wound and sealed it shut, making it look as good as new. The alchemist pulled his glove on and frowned. "That settles it, you're a homunculus. But what are you doing? Where are you going?" Ed asked, not really implying on catching the creature's attention.

The homunculus whipped its head around to Edward and stared at him for a little while. Edward met the homunculi's gaze. Then, the soulless being shot its hand up and wrapped it around the Elric's throat, hoisting him into the air.

"Brother!" Edward heard his brother call from somewhere inside of the crowd. Edward bared his teeth and clenched his eyes shut, amazed at the creature's strength. He would have to use alchemy to get out of this. However, just as he went to clap his hands, the homunculus turned its head in another direction and hauled Edward over to the place it was looking at. Edward was thrown high over the crowd and was sent hurtling into the edge of the chaos. He landed on his automail shoulder and groaned loudly on impact.

Edward pushed himself up onto his palms and shook his head. "Ouch... damn homunculus" He cursed, sending a quick glare at the crowd. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted something on the floor. He turned his head towards it and found that it was in fact a girl with dark hair, cradling the body of what appeared to be a doctor. He crawled his way over to her, knowing that now wasn't the time or place to be mourning over someone's death. She had to get out first.

"Hey!" Edward called out to her, keeping low on the crowd to avoid unwanted attention from the homunculi. It was hard enough to face up to one of them let alone hundreds. "Hey, you!" He shouted at her again, not getting any response at all. Mumbling curses under his breath, he dived over towards her, landing right beside her.

"Hey, get up! Come on!" He yelled, placing his automail hand on her bouncing shoulder. She flinched and then looked up at him with red rimmed eyes. Her dark hair clung to her cheeks, which were covered in blood. Ed's jaw dropped. "Ruth..." He breathed. His eyes then fell down to the body in her arms, Baxter's body. The alchemist's brows furrowed. "Those damn homunculi..." He growled, sending his eyes in their direction.

Ruth whimpered and brought Edward's attention back to her. She had let Baxter's body fall down onto the floor and was wiping her eyes with the backs of her hands. Edward sighed and shook his head a little. "Pull yourself together, we've got to get out of here" He whispered to her, trying to keep his voice calm. Ruth squeaked and nodded slowly.

Edward lifted himself up onto his feet, helping Ruth up as he got up. The girl clung onto his coat and hunched forward a little, levelling her height with his own, even though she wasn't much taller than him. The young alchemist glanced around, looking for a way he could get to Alphonse and Evans. It wasn't at all hard to spot them both; they were much taller than the homunculi wondering around. "OK," Edward began, turning to face Ruth. "I'm going to distract them, they'll pay attention to me. When they're after me, I want you to run to Al, got it?" He told her sharply. Ruth glanced up at Al. She gulped and then met her gaze with Edward's again and nodded.

Not a moment later, Edward had clapped his hands and ran his flesh hand over his automail, a blade going into place. Ruth stared wide-eyed at him for a moment, but soon let it pass over her. "Let's go" Edward told her, walking slowly into the crowd, holding onto Ruth's hand as they made their way through. Once they were at the heart of the crowd, Edward glanced around, whilst trying to keep his balance from homunculi bumping into him. Luckily they had only been interested in getting past the soldiers at the moment, who were now actually shooting them rather than just hitting them. Ruth winced at the sounds of gunshots. "They're not doing anything wrong, they only want to go outside!" She spat, clenching her fists. Edward glanced at her. "Says the person who was just mourning over someone they killed" He muttered, lifting his automail blade up.

"They don't die so easily anyway, you should know, you're an alchemist" He said in a dark tone. Ruth bit her lip.

"But I-"

"Alright, get going" Edward released her wrist and shoved her to the side. Ruth stumbled for a moment but soon got up on her two feet and made her way through the crowd, keeping her eyes locked on Alphonse all the while.

Edward glared at the homunculi around him, who had all turned their heads to face him. "What do you want? Why do you want to go outside?"

"Move out of my way!" A loud voice shouted. Edward glanced over to the source of the voice. The soldiers began to part and make way for three figures as they made their way through. Edward smirked. "It's about time" He muttered, whipping his head back towards the homunculi facing him. One of them reached out for him and he returned the attack with a quick swipe from his automail.

"Hm, it appears that Fullmetal has his hands full" A man said, pulling on a pair of gloves. A smirk played along his lips as he glanced up to a much bigger man beside him and a woman with a gun locked in her hand. "What do you say we give him a hand?"


	5. Chapter 04: Faces

Anything FMA related belongs to H/A any other characters and story belong to me.

Enjoy.

* * *

**Chapter 04: Faces**

The crowd that had started to gather outside of the building steadily grew as the seconds ticked on by. Most of the crowd were simple passerbies and those who were just curious; however there were people in there who were either family or friends with someone inside the hospital. Majority of the families pushed their way forwards through the crowd and some even tried to get past the officers who were barricading them off the site. Nobody could believe their eyes after catching sight of the patients in helmets, looking identical to one another, their only differences being things that didn't really count, like height or skin tone, no one could tell who was theirs and who wasn't. And up above, in the windows of the building, hung out normal, helmetless patients and staff who were trying to get a look themselves at the situation below them.

Meanwhile, behind the doors of the hospital, the battle was still on, between those wanting to go outside and those keeping them at bay. The soldier who had been in the building in the first place had struggled to hold the creatures back as they possessed almost impeccable strength and had to be beaten hard to fight them off. It was after this that they were called in. Roy Mustang, Riza Hawkeye and Alex Louis Armstrong, and a few other officers and alchemists to help. The situation was dyer and these people had to be kept indoors, no matter the cost.

Edward kicked his automail foot into the stomach of a homunculi as it tried to make a grab for him under his arms. The being doubled over as Edward spun around and grasped its head in both hands, bringing his automail knee up into its face. The creature didn't make any sounds of pain or protest as it fell down onto its knees, its arms dangling freely by its sides. Edward wasn't sure if they could actually feel any pain or not, especially on their heads with the helmet cased tightly around it. However, for whatever reason, that appeared to be their weak spot at the moment as they seemed to take more time to recover and start for the exit again after a blow to the head.

Not too far from him, there was a flash of alchemic light. Edward glanced over, to find a mass of stone statues, blocking off majority of the homunculi – those statues all being in the shape of Armstrong's head, of course. "Try to get past my artistic alchemy!" He boomed, a pink sparkle flickering beside his head as he looked at his work proudly, yet kept up a defensive stance.

However, the homunculi weren't going down without a fight. They began to scramble over the statues and try to catch a soldier in their grasps, failing as they'd be beaten away with guns. Some of the homunculi also began to beat in the statues, causing them to crack and threaten to break into pieces rapidly.

Armstrong took a step closer towards a nearby statue and prepared to slam his fist against it and create another wall, but was cut off in mid-motion when a chunk of rock was spat out at him. He ducked out of the way with ease and regained his position. Then, he felt something unbelievably strong lock tightly onto his arm. He glanced down, finding several pale arms sticking out of a tiny slit that had been cut into the rock. Behind all of the desperate arms, were the faces of those dying to get out. A feeling of pity caused the man to pause for an instant, until a tongue of flames whipped at the arms, sending them wheeling back inside the slit. Armstrong shook his head and quickly slammed his fist into the stone barrier, causing a taller, plain stone wall to appear - he hadn't had time to think about its artisticness.

The large man then spun around to the Colonel, poised with his fingers held together. "We've got to do something with these people, they might start attacking patients. We should evacuate those that we can and then get this hospital quarantined until we can figure out what to do with them" He told Armstrong, stepping over to the wall he was stood by. Armstrong nodded and whipped his head back to the wall, staring up at the top of it, expecting for the creatures to have started to try and climb over. "Where are they going?" He asked, keeping his eyes locked upwards. Roy shrugged. "I don't know, but I think Fullmetal might know a thing or two about them, he looked like he knew what he was doing when fighting them" Roy sent his gaze over to Hawkeye and nudged his head over towards himself, beckoning for her to come over.

"The lieutenant and you, Armstrong, will stay here and make sure that those creatures don't get out. As for me, I'll go and help Fullmetal and his brother. Let's get going" He said sharply, turning around on his heel, staring at the wall. He sent Armstrong a quick glance. The Major nodded and rammed his fist into the wall, keeping it in place there. An archway appeared before the Colonel, just big enough to fit only him through. The Colonel bolted his way through and Armstrong sealed it shut behind him.

As soon as Roy had gotten out onto the battle field, he had already been flattened against the wall by the stampeding beings. He cursed, lifting his fingers up into the air and snapping them. A flame snaked through the crowd and scorched many of the creatures in his path. Yet, despite the fact that some had black arms or burnt gowns and red marks across their bodies, they didn't flinch. However, they did stop moving and gave the Colonel a chance to push through them and get closer to the Elrics.

"Come on Ruth, you're almost here!" Al yelled to the girl as she wriggled her way through the crowd, trying to avoid the creatures as much as possible. Evans watched the two from further back in the crowd, bouncing up and down on his toes, ready to jump into action if he had to. The boy in the armour held his hands out to the girl as she came closer and closer to him. Ruth reached for Al, only being a couple of steps from reach now. A small smile played on her lips as she almost came under Al's shadow. However, she soon found herself getting stuck in the crowd of homunculi as they grouped closer together. Panicking, she stretched her hand further out towards the boy. Al was quick on his feet at that point, driving his way through the crowd and towards her. His leather hand then wrapped around hers and he tugged her out of the group she was caught up in. As Ruth tripped forward a little and was caught by Al, who helped her to a steady stand, Evans felt his heart calm down immensely. Ruth was safe now and that's what mattered.

Ruth clung tightly onto Alphonse's arm as they both glanced around, searching for an exit. Al's eyes then met with Evans. It was then that he decided. His brother needed his help too, Al knew that homunculi were creatures that shouldn't be taken lightly at all. But first Ruth had to be taken care of. Checking that Ruth was still by his side, he began to push through the crowd and take Ruth towards Evans. The youngest Elric took a quick glance behind himself at his brother. Roy Mustang was now close by to him and fighting off the lifeless beings with his flames and Edward seemed to be managing fine with his automail – hopefully not inflicting too much damage on it. The wall before the entrance was now starting to fall, with the beings climbing over it and slamming their bodies into it, trying to smash it and was looking successful too. Also, several holes had been pierced into the wall, several gunmen firing rounds at the creatures as they tried to scramble up to them. Not that it would do a lot of good, as after a while they would only get back up again.

"Can't we just let them go?" Ruth whispered. Al looked down at her, finding that she was staring at the beings as they tried to make their way over and through the wall. He sighed. Having a few homunculi on the loose already was bad enough; it wasn't even up for debate to allow these people out.

"When we just let them be before they weren't violent... If we gave them what we wanted, Dr. Baxter wouldn't be..." Her breath hitched at the end and she was unable to finish the sentence. Al knew that he didn't even need to ask what happened to Baxter, it was all obvious from when she was running towards him through the swarm.

"We can't let them out, we don't know what damage they would do if we did..." Al told her softly, shoving a few homunculi to one side with his arm. Ruth gasped and clung tighter onto Al as the homunculi he sent aside snapped their gaze in their direction, yet made no moves against them and carried on their way.

"But... Alphonse, they're people" She whispered in a helpless tone. Al froze on the spot. Was she right? Well, they were homunculi, it was plainly obvious they were. But they haven't really put much harm to anyone yet, minus Dr. Baxter. Then again, he was a kind old man who would very doubtfully get in their way. So, why would they kill him? Was it possible that these creatures were not quite human or homunculi, or perhaps the way they were brought into the world affected their nature and changed it from a typical homunculus's?

He soon shook it off. That would have to wait till later. It wasn't like these things could die. He stalked towards Evans again, who was anxiously waiting on the spot to get hold of Ruth and no doubt get her out of the building. It was too dangerous downstairs and it would be hard to get her upstairs by now, so the outdoors was the only option.

Evans held both of his arms out at Ruth as she came over to him. Once she felt that she was safe enough, she released Al and rushed over to Evans. The man caught Ruth's hands in his own and pulled her close, keeping her out of harm's way. "I'm going to help my brother, you and Ruth should get outside, it's the safest place to be!" Al called out to them as he turned away and raced in the direction of his older brother and the Colonel.

"Come on Ruth," Evans said to the girl, letting her hands go and crouching before her. Ruth sent him an unsure look, but climbed up onto his back anyway. Once she was on his back, Evans reached behind himself and grabbed her by her waist and lifted her up onto his shoulders. Ruth squeaked and planted her palms on his head, not wanting to fall off. With his arms firmly looped around her ankles, Evan proceeded to the door, using his large frame to push his way through the beings.

"It's impossible to hold them back, they just keep coming!" Armstrong bellowed, slamming his fist into the wall as more homunculi battered their way through. Rapidly reloading her gun, Riza began to fire at them from the hole in the wall. "We just have to keep trying" She shouted back at him, keeping her eyes locked on her targets.

"Sir! How are we going to stop them!?" A soldier cried out, a homunculus clambering over him and making it for the door. He spun around and fired at its back, sending it crashing to the ground. Armstrong then bolted over and grabbed hold of the homunculi by its shoulder and hauled it up into the air. Using all of his strength, he threw the creature over the wall and back into the crowd. "We'll have to find a way to seal them all in their gathering... But whatever walls we make they break them or climb over them" He said in his usual loud voice.

"Their weak spot is the head. So maybe there is a way we can hit them all there and somehow manage to keep them down" Riza spoke, getting glances from the men around her. Armstrong narrowed his eyes at the wall, staring at it as he thought. Even if they did manage to hit them all simultaneously, they would only get back up again and break out of their prison.

"Hey! Let us through!" A voice yelled from the other side of the wall. All of the officers exchanged glances for a moment. "It's me! Dr. Evans! I've got to get Ruth out, let me through!"

Armstrong approached the wall and placed his fist against it, creating a tiny opening from where the voice was coming from. At first, he believed that it was one of the creatures talking and had hopes of finding out why they wanted to go out. However, the face he saw was of a large man, with a small girl upon his broad shoulders. The Major didn't hesitate, he pressed his fist harder against the wall and made the opening larger, allowing them to pass through.

Evans sighed as he bent down on the floor, letting Ruth drop off his shoulders. "Thank God we got out of there" He breathed, looking up at Armstrong as he sealed the opening he let them through. Armstrong met his gaze and Evans nodded gratefully at him.

The Major's eyes then landed on Ruth, who was staring at him wide eyed, hands held against her chest and tears in her eyes. "You're part of the military, right!?" She blurted, stepping closer to the man.

"Yes, I am but-"He was cut off when Ruth clutched onto his arm and stared at him with eyes burning with pleas. "You have to let those people out! They never hurt anybody before they were being fought against, please!" She cried, her hands shaking as they held onto the man.

Armstrong gave the girl a concerned look. "You're covered in blood..." He whispered in a sympathetic tone. Ruth released the man and began to rub at her cheeks with the backs of her hands, wiping away blood and salty tears alike.

"We have to stop these people, what they were like before is no concern now. They're violent and we can't risk having people hurt" Riza told the girl, still concentrating on her fire.

"But... What about their families? And their friends? Those are people who families are mourning about. We can't just... treat them like animals" Ruth begged as she turned to the older women. Riza sighed, with her gun out of ammunition, she pulled back from her station and turned to face Ruth.

"But, I don't think that these people are human anymore. And I also think it would be cruel for their relations to see them like this" She whispered, putting a hand gently on the girl's shoulder. Ruth bit her lip and hung her head.

After a short, silent pause, a mass of hands poked through the gap that Riza was once stationed at. The homunculi began to claw at the people on the other side, trying hard to get to them. Riza ducked out of the way of a hand and tackled Ruth, pulling her down to the ground and out of danger. The lieutenant curled her body around Ruth's as a few soldiers stepped forward and began to shoot at the creatures. Ruth whimpered at the sound of bullets soaring through the air and piercing the bodies of the undead.

However, the shooting proved no good as the beings kept pushing their arms through the gap in the wall. Riza shot her gaze up to Armstrong, who was busy sealing up as many cracks as he could. The man was starting to become worn out now from using too much alchemy, however he didn't really have a choice in the matter. "Major!" She cried, catching his attention. He spotted the area of need and rammed his fist into the stone and sent a wave of alchemic sparks in the direction of the homunculi. As the wall began to seal up, the arms retreated back and the homunculi became lifeless as they watched the gap slowly close. The soldiers sighed in relief and Riza loosened her grip of Ruth. The moment of relief only lasted a second as another homunculus came into view. It pushed its head into the heart of the closing gap and stretched an arm through, grabbing a soldier by the throat and tossing him towards the glass doors. The man smashed through them and landed in a heap on the street as the homunculus made a grab for another man. But, the force of the hole closing was too much for the creatures protected head to handle. The helmet began to crack and parts snapped off, flying in all directions.

Ruth stared at the soulless being as its helmet began to shattered, revealing the face that lurked beneath. Deadly pale skin came into view, along with a set of blue, thin lips and hateful, violet eyes. Ruth's face drained of its colour as the remained of the helmet fell from the beings face. Her chest began to jump up and down, hard as she stared at the face of a boy. Her pupils shrank and beads of sweat began to roll down her cheeks. "It's him..." She muttered, her voice riddled with horror. Riza glanced down at her, a confused look on her face.

The wall then snapped shut, spewing blood everywhere as the boy's head was crushed. Riza closed her eyes in a calm manor and placed her hand over Ruth's, not wanting her to catch sight of it. "They are really desperate now" She muttered, opening her eyes and glancing up at the Major, who was standing by Evans and staring in awe at what just happened. "We've got to stop them"

"Did you see that!?" Alphonse exclaimed, throwing his fist onto the head of a homunculus. Mustang snapped his fingers, incinerating the creatures around them and creating more room for them to fight them off. They had to get out of there quickly; none of them were a match for so many of them. If they stayed and fought them, they'd only provoke them more and would end up dead.

"Yeah, I did!" Edward grunted, cutting his automail across a few stomachs. He raced after Al and Roy as they made their way down the path that the Colonel had created for them, picking up their feet as much as possible and keeping their eyes sharp for when the burnt homunculi regenerated. "They really are desperate if sticking their weak spots on the line. How are we gonna keep them in here?" The eldest Elric exclaimed, looking up at Roy.

"I don't know, Fullmetal. We certainly can't keep them locked back with a giant stone wall, they're strength is too great" He narrowed his eyes as the homunculi began to block their path to the exit. Snapping his fingers, Roy sent his flames at their feet, roasting everything below the knees and making them plummet to the ground. The three of them pressed forward, fighting back only the homunculi that would get in their way.

It was then that they heard it. Everybody did. The sudden scream was dangerously close to making the entire building crumble into a pile of dust.

The three alchemists looked up, finding that the scream had come from the other side of the wall. None of the homunculi had made it through, which didn't help in explaining why there was a scream. But that wasn't the only thing that was unexplainable. The homunculi's reaction to the sound was unbelievable. They had stopped walking forwards and were clutching onto the side of their helmets, their knees caving in underneath them and bringing them to the ground.

"What's going on!?" Al whispered, glancing at the homunculi surrounding them as they began to sprawl themselves out on the floor.

"I've got no idea, but let's get moving in case they get back up again!" Roy barked, marching towards the wall. Ed and Al nodded, keeping themselves in close pursuit of the Colonel.

As they approached the walls, people were gathering at the holes in the walls, gazing at the sight of the creatures laid on the floor, using one another's bodies as pillows. At this point, they were peaceful again, deep in a -what looked like- deep sleep.

A doorway opened for the three to come through. Waiting there for them was Hawkeye and Armstrong, staring in awe at the creatures.

"Who screamed?" Roy asked the lieutenant in a calm voice as he and the Elrics came through the wall. The lieutenant glanced over her shoulder. Roy's eyes followed hers, landing right on a girl sitting next to a bulky doctor, palms over her eyes and body shaking violently. Edward pushed past Mustang as he went to make his way over to the girl, followed by his younger brother who the Colonel an apologetic look.

Edward stood over Ruth as she cried into her hands, with Evans rubbing her back, trying to calm her down. The older brother glared down at her. He was sure now that she had used alchemy that night and that it triggered this homunculus infestation. How else would she be able to stop them? But, what he didn't know, was what she did to stop them.

"What did you do?" He whispered in a dark tone, his fists clenching when she didn't even glance at him. He opened his mouth to speak again, only to stop when his little brother's hand fell on his shoulder, telling him to calm down.

"It was him..." Ruth sobbed, pulling her hands away from her face. "It was him... I saw him..." She stared at the ground with wide, tear-filled eyes. Images raced through the girls mind at the thought of seeing that boy's face. A pink envelop held close to her chest and a boy stood by some lockers, talking with a group of boys. Sitting on some cold, stone steps in the rain and a boy sat beside her, gently putting his coat over her shoulders. The touch of his lips on her own...

"Ruth?" A voice whispered to her. She flinched and turned her head to see a blonde boy sat beside her, looking at her with a cautioned stare. "What did you see?" He asked her, his voice quiet and calm. She turned back to the spot on the floor she was staring at, biting her lip hard. Slowly, she shook her head.

"Come on Ruth, please" The boy in the armour asked, standing not too far away from his older brother. "We want to help you"

She glanced up, her eyes locking with the blonde's golden ones. He nodded slowly at her, keeping his face firm. "Ruth, what did you do to stop them? What has happened to you whilst in this hospital?"

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Whew, this took a bit to write. I had trouble finding the right music to listen to whilst writing this chapter, but then I found some and was writing for England :)

Please Review X.


	6. Chapter 05: Flower Girl

Anything FMA related belongs to H/A any other characters and story belong to me.

Enjoy.

* * *

**Chapter 05: Flower Girl**

_Meanwhile, in a flower shop somewhere in Central..._

The hospital had been jam-packed and paramedics were all over the place, treating other patients in the streets of Central and surrounding areas. It was hopeless to even try to get her seen by a doctor, so they decided to all they could for her themselves. However, what they did wasn't enough to save her and she had bled to death with thousands of other people that day.

The Holmes family had run a family florist business for years and were ready to pass the business onto their next heir, Leah Holmes. Yet this clearly was not meant to happen. On the day of the incident, Leah was one of the thousands to have the strangely occurring injuries. Although the family didn't know what she was doing when she had started to bleed, they were sure it wasn't anything dangerous after they found her in a pool of blood at the doorstep of their shop. And knowing that there was a slim chance she would actually get treated in hospital, they did so themselves. She was taken to the apartment upstairs and laid on the bed in her room. Her younger brother, Simon, helped his mother attend to his sister's wounds whilst their father was out on the streets, searching for help. But none came and there was little the family could to do to stop the bleeding. So, Leah Holmes, aged only twenty-two, died in her own bed, bathed in her own blood.

Nobody in the household dared to move the body of their lost family member. Not until they could have someone look at her to tell them what had happened. They deserved to know this; she was their own relation after all. On the hours whenever the shop was shut, Simon would stalk off to his sister's room and tell her of any news he would find about what happened. So far, he received information about a boy named Edward Elric and his younger brother Alphonse. He was told about their bodies, but not how they ended up like that. He would also go on to tell her how much of a strange character the person was who had been giving him all this information, for no charges at all. "This man is always lurking in the shadows, like he doesn't want to be seen by the public. And he has striking violet eyes, that seem riddled with hate" He would tell his sister over and over, hoping that she was listening to him somewhere.

Although they never said anything about it to him, Simon's parents didn't really like him going up and talking to his sister none stop. They didn't mind the fact that he was talking to her, not at all, he was showing his respect that way. What they didn't like, was how he seemed to have made a commitment into doing so. Every passing hour of his free time would be spent with his sister's body, hidden beneath the sheets of her bed or it would be spent with him stalking off somewhere in Central. He wouldn't come down for dinner and would have to have it taken up to him by his mother. And sometimes, he would get so lost in conversation that he wouldn't touch his food. But this was not the only thing that was troubling his parents. No. It was the strange man he was talking about. The man who never stated a name and had violet eyes. Every time they would try to talk to him about it, he would act innocent and say that he had never met such a man. "Violet eyes? That's silly. No one has eyes _that_ colour" He would always say.

The time had just reached six o' clock and the shop had recently closed, leaving Simon to wonder upstairs to see Leah. However, what he saw that night was one heck of a lot different to what he was used to. Opening the door to her room, he found a girl sat up in his bed with a strange helmet on her head. Panic flushed over him. Someone was in his sister's bed. Alone. This meant that his sister had been placed somewhere else. "Who are you? What are you doing in my sister's bed!? Get out!" He yelled, grateful that his mother and father had decided to go out for a meal that night.

The girl in Leah's bed turned her head to face him. Simon blinked at the red symbol that was on the front of the helmet that she wore. The pair stared at each other for a little while, until the girl turned her head away and gazed out of the window.

Simon grinded his teeth behind sealed lips. Wordlessly, he sat himself down in the chair that was always beside Leah's bed. He stared at the girl. Her skin was pale, only a little paler then Leah's used to be. She was dressed up in the same dress that they had put Leah in after they decided to keep her body in the house until someone could come and look at her, to determine what had caused her injuries. A white dress with pink flowers scattered across it and a cropped, pink cardigan to go with it. But, they never stuck her in a helmet, did they? Unless his parents did it behind his back, but why would they do that?

He sighed and ran his hand through his short, blonde hair. Was this girl really his older sister? And if it was, how can it be possible that she was moving? There was only one person he could ask. There was only the one person in the whole of Central who could answer his question. And he would have to see him right away and even take him into his household to see Leah – if it was her – in person. After all, he couldn't take a dead girl out onto the streets. Who knows what trouble that could cause him.

"Leah, if that's you, I'm going out for a while. I've got to ask him some questions and I'll bring him here so you two can finally meet and maybe he can... help you" He whispered, his eyes locking on the helmet encasing her head. The girl didn't answer and didn't even look at him this time. "OK then" He muttered, lifting himself up onto his feet. He marched towards the door, pausing as he gently opened it with a creek. "I'll be seeing you..." He told her, his voice completely unsure. If it wasn't his sister, he doubted that he would be seeing that girl again at all.

Rushing downstairs, he pulled on his long, brown trench coat and his battered shoes. The family wasn't the richest family around, yet they managed to get by well. It was a good thing that people quite liked their flowers; they just didn't sell them with expensive prices like most. Trudging through the shop, Simon smiled at the floral aroma drifted through the air. Placing his hand upon the handle, he took a deep breath and with that smile, opened the door and hopped out onto the streets. Normally whenever he went out he would leave the door open, he never knew why, he just did. However tonight he decided to lock it. If it was his sister in there, he didn't want her to leave the house. Dead or not, it's not a safe place on the streets at night. Whether it was early evening or not.

There was a bitter chill in the air that night. Simon wrapped his arms around himself, sheltering in as much heat as possible. He really did wish that he had decided to keep his hair long, it used to far down his back, however it got in the way and so he cut it short, if he had it now it would have kept his neck warm at least. The streets were barren and wet. It had been raining earlier that day, but now the sky was clear and the bright stars dotted into view, along with a glowing full moon. Several street lamps flickered on and off as he made his way further down the street. But this was normal; the lights down near the rough end of the street never did work properly. Rounding a corner, he came into a short alley. Pipes dripped around the alley and rats scurried along, running away from Simon as he stepped awkwardly into the alley. He hoped that he didn't have to wait long for him to come today. He always said that he was busy and on some days he would turn up late or not at all, depending on his mood he would say.

Simon sat himself down on a wooden crate, propping his elbows up on his knees and head in his hands. His face went vacant as he began to think about that girl who was sat up in his sister's bed. He had been at home all day and no one besides his parents had gone upstairs and it was doubtful that someone could climb up and get in through the window, it was a little too high for someone to reach and most of the time the windows were shut to keep out the cold. And she was in the same outfit as Leah. Her skin was paler, but that made sense since she wasn't alive – or she wasn't meant to be. The only thing that really didn't make sense was that helmet up on her head and the symbol on it. He had never seen a symbol like that before, but he believed that it was related to alchemy or something. He would just need that person to clarify it.

"My, my. Someone looks a little eager to see me tonight" A voice purred. Simon gasped and jumped up from his seat. He looked up at the brick wall behind him. There he was, stood in the darkness on top of the wall, violet eyes glistening in the darkness. Staring at him, Simon could see the man's slender figure and his long, spiny hair.

The boy looked down at the ground for a moment. "Y-Yeah, there's something that I need to know... And I have something that I want to show you" He muttered, lifting his eyes up to meet his. However, he wasn't on top of the wall anymore and was stood on top of the crate where Simon was once sat, yet he kept his frame still in the shadows. "Oh?" He asked his tone curious and sly at the same time. "And what might that be?"

Taking a deep breath in, Simon forced his eyes to meet the man's, not matter how frightful they seemed. "It's about my... sister. Something isn't right about her. She's awake. I don't know how, but, she's sat up in her bed and has this really weird helmet type thing on her head, with a symbol on it" He paused for a moment, just in case the man wanted to say anything. From in the shadows, he saw him wave a hand and beckon for him to carry on. "I want to know, what that symbol is..."

"Hmm," violet eyes wondered up in thought, then sharply fell down to meet Simon's terrified green ones again. "What does this "symbol" look like, hm?"

Simon scrunched his brow a little as he thought back to it. "A red serpent or dragon, chasing its own tail and a star in the middle, it's on the front of the helmet, covering her whole face" He explained, his finger circling his face at the end. Suddenly, a row of sharp, white teeth came into view.

"Is that so? I suppose you want to show me her, yes?"

Simon nodded dimly. "Y-Yes"

A foot then poked into view from the shadows. Sickly pale skin, with a black toeless sock covering it. Simon smirked a little, hoping to finally see what the mysterious man he would see for information looked like. However, as soon as the foot came into view, it was swept back into the shadows again. Simon's smirk fell and his eyes wondered up to the man's again. "Oh, but there's a problem" He said giddily.

Simon sighed. "I'm not allowed to see you or else you'll have to kill me, I know" His eyes wondered down and caught sight of his trench coat. "I-I could give you my coat to cover yourself" He suggested in a proud, happy tone.

"Oh? Would you?" A hand poked out from the shadows and reached for the coat. The hand was pale just like the foot, hidden beneath a black, fingerless glove. But yet again, as soon as it appeared it was stolen by the shadows. Simon paused, just about to take the other sleeve off and hand the coat over to him. "But, I prefer that I take different measures to ensure your... safety" He said snidely. At the moment, sparks of light flickered in the shadows and soon stopped. Simon rubbed his eyes and blinked a few times, the light being a bit too bright for him.

"Alright, shall we?" A tall man stepped out from the shadows. Simon blinked. He was completely different from the silhouette he had seen earlier and on numerous occasions. He had tanned skin and long dark hair that was tied back in a ponytail. He was dressed in a white shirt and smart, black trousers. A smirk played on his lips as he looked down at Simon. The boy gulped. There was one thing that hadn't changed and that was his malicious eyes.

Swallowing hard, Simon nodded his head and turned away from the man, pulling his coat back over his shoulders. The two stalked off down the street, not saying a word to one another the whole way. Simon walked a couple of steps in front of the man, leading him to his home and workplace. He knew that the man was still smirking evilly as they made their way to the flower shop. Simon shivered as he quickened his pace a little, hoping to make the space between them a little bigger, only for the man to also make his pace faster and keep right on the blonde's tail.

After a while, the two finally made it to the flower shop and luckily enough Simon's parents hadn't arrived home yet. As they made their way through the shop, Simon glanced up at the clock. Five minutes after seven, his parents wouldn't be back anytime soon so he had all the time he needed to find out what was wrong with his sister.

"Leah," Simon whispered as he opened the door to her room. Much to his relief, she was still there, gazing out of the window. Slowly, she turned her head towards him and stared at him for a while. The boy smiled warmly at her. The man he invited round then brushed past him and sat himself down on the chair beside Leah's bed, finger rested on his chin and a wide smirk spread across his face.

"Well, hello you. Might I ask your name?" He asked her, his voice bouncing with eagerness. The girl dropped her gaze on Simon and tilted her head towards the man. His smirk widened. He leaned forward a little and began to speak softly to her, obviously wanting Simon not to hear as he stood under the door frame. "Why are you sat up in bed? Don't you want to go out like the rest of them?" He whispered, chuckling at the end.

Simon narrowed his eyes a little, only having just heard the man say this to his sister. "So, what is it? What's wrong with her?" He asked suddenly, frowning when the man spun around and sent him a quick glare. He then coughed and tugged on the collar of his white shirt and smirked again.

"This symbol of yours is the Ouroboros. The mark of the homunculi, you do know what _they _are, right?"

Simon shrugged. "Well, I suppose so. They're created when someone tries to recreate life, aren't they?" He queried, getting a bitter chuckle off the man.

"Yeah, that's right. If you're going to put it bluntly" He said idly, turning back to face Leah. Simon frowned and folded his arms, leaning against the door frame. To him, it didn't matter what a homunculus was, he didn't care about alchemy. All he really cared about was his older sister. True enough, he wished to see her alive again with his every being. But he wasn't desperate enough to turn to alchemy to do that. Although he wasn't quite sure of what a homunculus was, he did know that it was somehow hallow, it was incomplete. Like a simple shadow of a human.

But to put it bluntly? That's what the man had said. What more was there to a homunculus then that? Simon knew he didn't know everything, but he knew it basically and this man was making it sound like he only knew a minor scarp about them. What more was there to them?

The man then reached out for Leah and Simon rushed over to him. "What are you doing!?" He blurted and the man spun around to him, finger pressed against his lips as he hissed. Simon's lips shut firmly, his tongue running along the backs of his teeth as he silently watched the man. He reached for Leah again and lightly placed his hands on either side of her head, turning it from side to side as he examined it. His thumbs then pressed against two circular objects that sat at the bottom of the helmet on each side, looking similar to buttons, only minus the holes to weave the thread through.

He turned his thumbs a little, testing to see if they would move. And they did. The buttons began to turn in the same direction as his thumbs and a small click emitted from the helmet. He smirked and went to turn the buttons all the way around, however was stopped when the girl began to struggle. She shook her head around and pushed the man's hands away, before clutched onto her head for a moment and then relaxing to her lifeless self again.

"W-What happened?" Simon blinked at Leah and then turned to the man, hands held up to his chest. "What did you do to... her?" Simon's eyes widened and his fists fell as sparks began to flicker around the man's body, just like they did before when he was hiding his face from him. Then, right before Simon's eyes, he transformed.

There was no longer a tall, dark man before him, but a slender male who looked about seventeen or eighteen perhaps. His hair was long and spiny, just like it was in the shadows and was a strange shade of green and was held out of his eyes by a headband. He wore a black top that revealed his stomach, fingerless gloves, toeless socks and a skort.

He rose from his seat and planted his hands on his hips, grinning cruelly at Simon, who had backed away from him. "Whoops, you've seen what I look like" He said in a fake innocent tone, pouting a little at the end. Suddenly, his arm glowed and a slender blade replaced his hand. "I guess that means I have to kill you now. You've been such a bother for me anyway and I think that I might have said a little too much referring to the Elrics" He told him, smiling afterwards as he took a step towards the boy.

Simon held up his hands as his back bumped into a wall. "B-But then... why did you tell me about them?" Simon asked, hoping to stall him long enough to think of a way out. The man then froze and scratched at his chin.

"You were so very curious about them, I thought that later on you could have been used to our advantage. But then you went and directed the subject to your dear older sister, who isn't a human anymore – oops, I did it again. You weren't supposed to hear that, this means that there is defiantly no way around it" In the blink of an eye, the man was before Simon, looming dangerously over him. He slammed a hand beside his head, pinning him in place.

Simon gawked at him and shivered at the vibrant colour of his eyes. "Once you've been dealt with, I'll be taking you sister with me. She'll be useful to us and it has been very difficult to get hold of any of them at the hospital with the pipsqueak being there and all" He told him, snickering at the horrified face he pulled. "My name is Envy and I'm here to cause your death" He said in a cheery tone as he pulled his blade back.

Simon's eyes snapped shut and he braced himself for the pain that was to come. But there was a sudden high pitched scream that forced him to open his eyes. At that moment, Envy's smirk fell as he turned back to the source of the scream. Leah. She had her hands on the buttons that Envy had hold of earlier and was turning them, causing the helmet to click louder and louder with each turn.

With Envy distracted, Simon went to run at his sister. However the man was much quicker than he had thought he was. Envy stabbed him in the shoulder and pinned him against the wall. Simon screamed in pain and latched onto Envy's arm with his undamaged hand. He forced an eye open to glare at Envy and bared his teeth. Envy smirked and then twisted his arm and bent it so the blade snapped at the end in order to keep Simon pinned. The blonde boy wailed in pain and clutched onto his shoulder, completely forgetting about Leah as he whimpered.

Envy morphed his hand back to normal as he approached Leah, who had stopped turning the buttons and had allowed her arms to go limp and sit before her .The sin leaned over to have a look at the back of the helmet, which had changed. Instead of there being a round, smooth surface, it had split into two plates that looked like upside down tear shapes with a gap between them, where a few strands of brown hair poked out. Envy placed his hands on the two plates and began to test them for movement. They moved both up and down, Envy decided to push them up and try to see if the helmet was removable. Simon sobbed in the background as Envy pushed the plate up until they could move no longer. He then tilted Leah's face so she was looking at him instead of facing forwards. Placing his hands on either side of her head, he pulled on the helmet and it slid off with ease, until it came to the front of her face. The sin had managed in pulling the helmet off her face, true enough ,however there was something there that was jamming it and stopping it from moving any further. He leaned over and found four, metal claws clinging onto her mouth. Two claws were locked onto the roof of her mouth whilst the other two were settled beneath her tongue.

A wide grin played along Envy's lips. He curled his fingers around the edge of the helmet and, without giving any warning, yanked at the helmet. Squeaks echoed from the girl's mouth as the claws in her mouth were dragged forward, slicing into her mouth. Envy then yanked again, harder this time and managed to rip the helmet from her face. She coughed and spluttered, spitting out chunks of flesh from her mouth and blood too. Envy looked at the helmet in hand, finding bits of flesh dangling from the ends of the claws. "Ew," he muttered, tossing the helmet aside.

Blood dripped from the corner of the girl's mouth as she slowly regenerated. Envy frowned at this, her regeneration was much slower than most homunculi. He shrugged, thinking that it was probably the fact she hadn't eaten any red stones. She shouldn't have anyway, since there was that many of these creatures out there. Before he had gone to meet Simon, Envy had been watching the sight of all of these creatures trying to escape from a hospital, with the military trying to stop them. And then there was a scream and they just stopped. Envy rubbed his chin. He would have to find out who had screamed and find out how that stopped the creatures. After all, if their plan was going to work, they would have to make sure that nothing would be in their way to stop them.

But first things first, to find out about these homunculi and this girl was their first one to try out. He sat down on the bed beside her and smiled at her as her eyes wondered up to his. Violet eyes. Sharp and deadly. He snickered. _Perfect. _

"N-No! D-D-D-Don't..!" Simon was fighting the pull the blade from his shoulder and get to his sister. Envy rolled his eyes. "I forgot that I hadn't killed you, oh well," he rose to his feet and changed his arm into a blade again. "I think I'll finish it then" He sang, racing over to him, blade aimed at his chest.

Envy was so close to piercing the boy's heart, when something had stopped him and caused him to fall in a heap on the floor.


End file.
